About the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is a busy and productive academic department within the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), emphasizing excellence in teaching, research, and clinical care. There are 137 full-time, 31 part-time, 84 voluntary faculty within the department. The department is located at 67 President Street within the Institute of Psychiatry (IOP), where the majority of the department’s faculty, residency training programs, research programs, and administrative offices are located.

There are 12 divisions within the department— Biobehavioral Medicine (BMed), Brain Research and Integrative Neuropharmacology (BRAIN), Brain Stimulation Laboratory (BSL), Addiction Sciences Division, and Tobacco Policy and Control), Family Services Research Center (FSRC), Community and Public Safety Psychiatry (CPSPD), Military Sciences Division (MSD), National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (NCVC), Weight Management Center (WMC), Psychiatry Hospitalist Division (PHD), and Youth. There are 7 special programs/task forces/and initiatives: Project Rex, Clinical Neurobiology Laboratory (CNL), Mental Health Disparities and Diversity (MHDD), Comprehensive Depression Center (CDC), Psych Associates, Comprehensive Psychiatric Care Specialists, and the Executive Wellness Program. The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is currently ranked 7th in the nation among departments in psychiatry in total research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

The Institute of Psychiatry (IOP), which opened in 1988, is licensed to house 105 beds. Partial hospitalization programs for youth and older adults are provided within the IOP and at off-site locations. Outpatient psychiatric care is provided within the IOP and other areas throughout the community and includes medication management and individual, group and family therapies. Patients at the IOP have access to the most promising and cutting-edge psychiatric interventions available. Inpatient programs at the IOP provide short-term stabilization for individuals in crisis with 5 inpatient units that focus on general adult, addiction, youth, intensive care, and geriatric services.